News

Tony Uglem Named Sam’s Club Player of the Week

Sept. 26, 2017 – Ames, Iowa – Cyclone Hockey is pleased to announce Tony Uglem (Moorhead, Minn. – Austin Bruins/NAHL) as the Sam’s Club Player of the Week after leading Iowa State to a pair of 4-1 wins over budding regional rival Illinois State.

Uglem led Iowa State in scoring for the 2016-17 season, tallying 34 points (12-22-34) in 33 games played, and scored the Cyclones’ first goal of 2017-18 by taking a give-and-go pass from linemate A.J. Gullickson (Verona, Wisc. – Alexandria Blizzard/NAHL) and firing a hard wrist shot from the slot high and past the glove of Redbird netminder Joey Garapolo at the 15:45 mark of the first period Friday night. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound power forward sniped his second goal of the game Friday night at 3:27 of the third period, a mere ten seconds off a face-off following a goal by rookie Hunter Dolan (River Falls, Wisc. – La Crosse Freeze/NA3HL), to give the Cyclones a 3-0 lead at that point in the eventual 4-1 win. In Saturday night’s rematch, Uglem rifled a puck from just above the goal line toward the net to generate a deflection power play goal for Gullickson at 16:49 of the first period to give the Cyclones the 2-0 advantage at that juncture of Iowa State’s eventual 4-1 victory.

With three points on the weekend, Uglem is currently tied for first in team scoring with Gullickson but separated himself for the Sam’s Club Player of the Week honor with his solid defensive play, particularly on the penalty kill, where he used his stick to disrupt Redbird passes a number of times. Defensive play is an area Uglem has refined over his two seasons with Cyclone Hockey, but it is not a major surprise that the highly touted forward has become a solid two-way player at the collegiate level.

“I think Tony’s always had that ability,” Fairman said of Uglem’s defensive acumen. “In juniors, he killed penalties and he’s always been a smart hockey player.

“His hockey sense has and is going to continue to benefit us in a lot of areas, particularly on special teams. He was a standout player in Minnesota high school hockey, he was solid player in the North American Hockey League, and he was highly sought after by other college programs coming out of the NAHL, and he’s continued to hone his game here at Iowa State.”

Uglem stands out the most, though, because of his dangerous shot and finishing abilities. He was named to the Central States Collegiate Hockey League All-First Team, All-Rookie Team, and the CSCHL Rookie of the Year in 2015-16, and was also named to the ACHA Men’s Division 1 All-Rookie Team, the ACHA Men’s Division 1 All-Second Team, and the ACHA Men’s Division 1 Rookie of the Year due in large part to leading Iowa State in scoring as a rookie with 51 points (24-27-51) in 42 games played. That phenomenal rookie season set him up for consideration to play for Team USA at the 2017 Winter World University Games and he was indeed selected to play for his country at the bi-annual tournament, held halfway around the world in Kazakhstan last winter. He also finished 2016-17 by being named to the CSCHL All-First Team for the second straight season, in addition to earning Cyclone Hockey’s Rod French Forward of the Year Award for the second straight season.

As one of Iowa State’s most decorated players of all time, after only two seasons, it isn’t surprising that Uglem is leading the charge offensively after the first weekend of 2017-18. In fact, he was named the Player of the Week after the first weekend of the regular season last year, too.

“As expected, thankfully so, Tony has picked up where he left off last season, and all of his seasons at Cyclone Hockey,” said Fairman of Uglem. “We look to Tony to provide scoring and he’s been our leading scorer the last two seasons and I expect he’ll have a chance to lead us in scoring again this season.”

In fact, Fairman has far higher aspirations for Uglem than merely leading Iowa State in scoring for a third straight season.

“Tony reported to camp in the best condition he’s reported yet, which bodes well for this season,” said Fairman. “I think he’s going to have a big season.

“I’d like to see Tony potentially get the ACHA Player of the Year Award. He’s certainly capable of doing it.”

Should Uglem in fact earn the ACHA Men’s Division 1 Player of the Year Award, he’d be the first Cyclone to do so since Glenn Detulleo achieved the feat following the 2000-01 season and would be the fifth Cyclone overall, with forward Bill Ward taking the award in 1994, forward Doug Borud doing such in 1997, and goaltender Rob Howitt earning it in 1998.

In the immediate future, Uglem and the Cyclones hit the ice again this Friday night at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena to take on Waldorf University at 7:30 p.m. Iowa State and Waldorf will square off again Saturday in Albert Lea, Minnesota, at City Arena, Waldorf’s home arena, at 7:00 p.m. Cyclone Hockey intends on streaming both games and, if necessary, will do so again using Facebook Live on the team’s Facebook page if necessary. Fans can follow Cyclone Hockey in general by going to the team’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CycloneHockey and can, additionally, follow Cyclone Hockey online on Twitter at @CycloneHockey.

Cyclone Hockey is busy selling season tickets and flex packs for the upcoming season. The organization has kept the same incredibly affordable ticket prices it’s had the past three seasons and will also be maintaining the same exceptionally low group rates for 2017-18. Fans can learn more about Cyclone Hockey’s extremely affordable ticket prices at the organization’s website at www.cyclonehockey.com or by calling 515.294.3498. Cyclone Hockey…Fifty Years of Excellence.